Jottings from the Granite Studio

St. Peter and the rest of the bouncers manning the eternal velvet rope must have November 22 marked on their calendars.  The list of famous figures who passed away on this date is…varied? random? A helluva cocktail party? (But no drugs please, one of the guests is…sensitive.)
First of all, today is the 45th anniversary of [...]

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Not since Michael Jackson’s combustible hair gel has the shoot for a Pepsi ad been so ill-conceived.
At the beginning of the ad, the Chinese fans would be interspersed between the international fans, but losing badly to the foreigners. The roars of the international crowd silenced their cheers for the Chinese national team. Then, the two [...]

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I’ve been waiting to write this post as I just wasn’t sure how to say what I wanted to say.  Sadly, Professor G. William Skinner passed away on October 26, 2008.
There were students who knew Professor Skinner better than I did, his teaching career spanned over half a century, but I had the privilege to [...]

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Today is the birthday of Song Dynasty über-historian Sima Guang,* born November 17, 1019, compiler and author of voluminous works including the Zizhi Tongjian (”Comprehensive Mirror on the Government”), a historical tour de force with 294 volumes and 3 million characters chronicling over a millennium of history. 
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* Same surname, but not to be confused with the Han [...]

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NPR ran a story yesterday on the 100th anniversary of the death of the Guangxu Emperor.  The report features interviews with historian Joseph Esherick, Zhu Chenru, deputy director of the National Committee for the Compilation of Qing history, and Jin Yuzhang, who is Guangxu’s nephew’s nephew, the oldest male in his generation, and, as such, [...]

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Good morning fellow Beijingers, you know what Chinese history is, in a minute…you’re going to here the REST of the story.
150 years ago today, in the province of Anhui, the Taiping general Chen Yucheng launched a daring attack at the key strategic point of Sanhe Zhen.
Earlier that year Chen had caused full-fledged panic in the [...]

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Sharp-eyed visitors to the Palace Museum will note the number of signs which are written in both Chinese and Manchu.  Makes sense considering who actually ruled the Qing Empire and so many of the signs at the Forbidden City look something like this:

But the signs on the main attractions, the big gates and halls [...]

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Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of The Guangxu Emperor.  The second in a line of three child emperors, Aisin-Gioro Zaitian (b. 1875) ascended the throne following the death of his cousin, Aisin Gioro Zaichun (The Tongzhi Emperor, r. 1861-1875).  I say cousin because Zaitian was the son of Prince Chun and the [...]

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Despite my small work and research-related hiatus, this past month Jottings from the Granite Studio had its 500th post and its 150,000th visitor.  Small time compared to Perez Hilton but not bad for a hobby.

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In the chaotic years following the dissolution of the Qing Empire, several regions formerly under Manchu control either declared independence outright or fell into a pattern of de facto independence under local rulers.  A document, a treaty between Mongolia and Τibeτ, purportedly negotiated and signed during this time, has surfaced, causing quite a stir among [...]

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